💌

That night, Xavier and you stayed in the living room talking. He answered every question about himself you had.

“So..how old are you really?” You began, Xavier gave you a small smile, which made you have to ignore the flutter it gave your heart.

“I was 24 when I woke up as this.” Xavier explained. “Unfortunately I don’t remember much of my life before that, but I’ve been traveling alone since then..for about 150 years.”

“Wow..doesn’t it ever get lonely? Traveling place to place?” You ask. Xavier stared at you for a moment, considering his answer.

“Yes and no. I’ve met others like me and..they aren’t the best company sometimes. Territorial or moral differences in who we should feed off of don’t mix well.” He answered, making you raise an eyebrow.

“Moral differences? What do you mean?”

“Some vampires just like to feed off whoever catches their eye, or some unlucky loner walking by. I think it’s cruel, so I try to only feed off bad guys.”

“So you’re an undead vigilante. Got it.” You chuckle, Xavier smiles softly again.

“Did you..feed off that guy earlier?” You ask him, stomach queasy. Xavier frowns, “No I didn’t actually, I didn’t want to make a mess and scare you more.”

“Oh, alright then..Do you have like special powers or something?” Xavier seems to hold back a laugh, “Nothing cool like telapathy or anything, I can run faster and I’m stronger than any human. My senses are heightened as well.”

“No telpathy? Or even flying. That’s disappointing.” You complain, making Xavier laugh honestly this time. His laughter makes you smile and join along, and you notice how comfortable you feel around him.

“What else would you want to know?” Xavier asks, leaning back into you couch.

“Do you like..burn in the sun? Or sparkle?”

Xavier smiles again, “No, not that I noticed at least but I sleep during the day anyway.”

You stare at him, bewildered. “But you only came to the store on gloomy days? The sun really has no effect on you?”

Xavier chuckles, “That was merely a coincidence. I sleep during the day most of the time, easier to feed at night and all. But I can always change up the schedule.”

You nod, “I think that’s all my questions for now.”

“You should sleep, it’s pretty late and I don’t want to make you too tired for work.” Xavier says, standing up.

“I don’t go in tomorrow, and..” You trail off, debating your words. “You can stay here, if you want.”

Xavier looks at you confused. You shrug, “You already told me you come here every night to watch me. I’m just giving you the offer.”

Xavier smiles, “I suppose that’s true. As long as your okay with it.” You smile back, “Of course, let me get you a blanket and pillow.

You quickly run to your closet to get the extra bedding, and come back to Xavier already laying down on the couch, eyes closed and fast aleep. A twinge of guilt tugs at your heart, he must have been exhausted, even for a vampire.

“Here you go.” You whisper, draping the blanket over him. “My bedroom door will be open if you need anything.”

Xavier doesn’t respond, and you decide its better to let him rest. You turn off the lights as you make your way to your room to prepare for bed, trying your best to ignore the swirl of emotions in your mind.

*

A heavy weight on your chest wakes you from your sleep, and you open your eyes to meet Xavier’s.

Except this time, they are pitch black and wild.

You struggle against him, his weight on top of you holding you down. “Xavier?” You mumble, “What are you-“

Suddenky, he turns his head to graze his teeth against your jugular, breathing heavily.

“I-I waited too long.” He whispers raggedly, making you shiver. He inhales deeply, “To feed..”

You struggle against him now, fear rushing through your veins.”Xavier get off of me-“

Suddenly he grabs both your hands and pins them above your head, making you gasp. His tight grip holds your arms high up, and he leans down to listen to your erratic heartbeat.

“Y/N..” He whispers, looking up at you “Please..help me..Let me..” He trails off, making his way to inhale the scent of your neck.

“Xavier wait, you’re not in the right frame of mind”

“Just a taste, I promise Y/N. I”ve heard it can make you feel good sometimes. Please Y/N” Xavier, dazed, whispers desperately. “It hurts..I’m so weak.”

Guilt suddenly washes over you, were you the reason he waited so long to feed? Were you the reason he was basically starving himself?

“O-okay.” You whisper, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Xavier pulls away slightlt, his black eyes stare into yours.

“I won’t hurt you, Y/N. I swear it’s gonna be over quick.” He says sternly, but releases his tight grip in yout hands to caress your cheek. His ice skin feels soothing to your hot cheeks.

Quickly, Xavier leans down, and you feel his breath against your jugular. You close your eyes tightly, body tensing as you feel his teeth graze you skin.

You feel his teeth bite down, and your arms wrap around him, clinging tightly. You let out a squeak, the pain in your neck almost making you scream.

You hear sickly sucking noises coming from Xavier as seering pain envelopes your neck from his bite, you struggle against him now, beginning to regret trusting his judgment in this state.

Suddenly, the pain begins to die down and your mind races.This made you think you were either dying or Xavier was finishing soon.

However, you quickly realize you were wrong.

The pain seems to turn into pleasure, a wave of tingling electricity washes over you. Terrified you grip onto Xavier tighter, gasping and unable to form words. Your mind turns to mush, only focusing on the sudden pleasure rushing through you.

“X-Xavier? P-please help me.” You barely manage to gasp out, the intense pleasure continues to wash over you in waves, making you fight back a moan. You still hear Xavier sucking the blood out of the wound on your neck, but it suddenly comes to a stop.

Xavier pulls away from your neck and leans back, you open your eyes to meet his still black and crazed ones. “Help you?” He mumbles, his mouth dripping with your blood. You shiver, the sight seems to only intensify your tingling.

Without thinking, you grab his hand and place it on top of your core, above your sleep shorts that were bound to be ruined.

“H-here.. It feels..Please” You beg, too incoherent to ask properly, Xaviers eyes stare into yours for a quick moment, before leaning down to kiss you.

Immediately you taste your own blood on his tongue, and a moan vibrates deep in his chest as he quickly shoves his hand into your panties. You gasp into the kiss, his fingers feeling icy but quickly warming up as he shoved two into your soaked cunt, fingering you at a brutal pace, his thumb rubbing your clit in tandem.

Xavier pulls away from your kiss, still deep in your core and smiles softly, “You are so beautiful like this.” He whispers, kissing your cheek before leaning down to continue his minstrations on your neck.

Feeling his teeth sink into you again is nowhere near painful, the intense pleasure of his fingers inside you and the effect of his bite making you crave more of him, moaning out his name without fear now. You would soon take the risk of death for the chance to feel this good again.

Too soon, you feel a knot form deep in your stomach, Xavier’s fingers still inside you.

“I’m close.” You whimper, tugging at Xavier’s shirt again. Xavier once again stops sucking the blood from your neck to whisper into your.

“Go ahead darling.” He said, “I’m finished now, just let go for me sweet girl.”

His pet names make your mind mush, as you feel the instense snap of your orgasm in your core, with Xavier’s fingering you through it. The waves of pleasure crash over you hard, making you almost scream out.

Finally, you feel your heartrate slow, and you close your eyes and succumb to darkness.

a/n: taglist! comment below to be added!

With a scream, you shoot up from your sleep.

Your hand covers the imaginary wound on your neck. You feel your heart beating a million miles a minute and relief washes over you.

A dream, you thought, it was just a dream.

You decide to brush off the disturbing dream and head off to work. The day seemed to drag, it was Cassidy’s day off and the sun was bright so you’d assume you wouldn’t see Xavier either.

After what felt like an eternity it was finally time to close.

After locking up, you began your walk to the nearest bus stop home. You have half a mind to call Cassidy during your walk, but decide against it, it was only a few minutes anyway.

You notice a man in dark clothes by the ATM machine a short distance from the shop, you notice him look up at you and you ignore him, not interested in conversation.

To your dismay, you begin to hear heavy footsteps behind you. You just continue to walk quicker, knowing the bus stop is only a couple more blocks.

Suddenly, you feel an arm grab yours, and a cold metal touch your back and you immediately know its the man from the ATM. You freeze, terrified out of your mind.

“Walk to the alley, give me your purse.”A gruff voice demands you, “Do it or I’ll use this gun, I don’t wanna play dirty honey.”

Not looking behind you, you nod. The man guides you to a nearby alley, you feel tears run down your face. The thought of dying in a dirty alley from a robbery gone wrong makes your stomach churn.

The man forces you to face him with your back against the wall, and grabs your purse from your hands.

“Now listen, you never-“ His voice is cut off by a swooshing sound and immediately he is no longer in front of you before you can even blink. You look around in front of you, but only see the alley get darker. Then, you hear the mans voice from the darkness.

“Hey! What the hell are you-AHHH!” You hear the man’s voice break off into a scream and you hear a gunshot, then another, and another. Each one rings in your ear, making you wince and close your eyes. Too scared to run, you stay against the wall.

Suddenly, you hear a sickly breaking noise, and the man seems to groan, you gasp. This is it, you think, this is how I die.

The alley is quiet for a long moment, and you hear shuffling from the darkness, along with the lid of a dumpster opening. A loud thud makes you shake, and you hear footsteps coming towards you. You close your eyes, preparing for the worst.

“Are you alright?” A distinguished voice asks, and you feel a cold hand touch your cheek. Wincing, you slowly open your eyes.

In front of you stands Xavier, his mouth bloody and clothes tattered. Shocked, you gasp and take a step back from him, you notice three distinct holes in his shirt, but no wound. Was that the gunshots?

“Xavier?” You gasp, “Wh-what are you doing here?”

Xavier, face full of concern, shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” You look at him, dumbfounded.

“No but, how are you here? What did you do to him?” You ask, still full of fear. Xavier sighs, like you just asked him some kind of stupid question.

“Listen, why don’t you go home? I can explain everything there, it’s too risky here.” Xavier says with a stern expression. “The last bus is leaving soon, get going and here’s your purse.” He hands you his bag, which you take slowly.

“Do you know where I live?” You ask him, and he nods again.

“Like I said, I can explain when we get there, just go home.”

In a daze, you can only nod and turn out of the alleyway to walk to the bus stop , leaving Xavier behind.

Something in your heart told you this was going to be a long night.

***

Once you make it to the front door of your apartment, Xavier is already there.

Now, he looks like his usual clean self, no tattered clothes, no blood. Totally normal.

Almost, if you hadnt seen him probably kill someone just twenty minutes ago.

“Let’s go inside.” Xavier says, moving for you to unlock the door. You stand still, looking up him.

“I need to ask you some questions first, before we go inside.” You say, looking at him for any sign of protest. Xavier nods, “That’s fair. Shoot.”

“Did you kill that guy earlier? In the alley?” You ask, voice barely trembling.

“Yes.” Xavier answers shortly. Your eyes widen, but then you nod. You pretty much knew that anyway.

“Alright..When we go inside..are you going to kill me?” You whisper the last part, not sure if your really want his answer.

“No.” Xavier says. You stare up at him for a long moment, and you decide to open the door.

You guide him to the living room where you both sit down on the sofa. Uncomfortable silence fills the room before you finally break the tension.

“So, what are you? I mean, how did you do…kill that guy?” You ask, voice trembling. Xavier shakes his head, “It’s..not easy to explain so I guess I should just get right to it.”

You nod, anxiously waiting for his answer. Xavier clears his throat and looks at you seriously.

“I’m..a vampire.”

You stare at him dumbfounded. Before you can think you blurt out, “Like Dracula?”

Xavier loses his typically serious composure, breaking into a half smile. “Yes. I can see this is weird to hear. But it’s the truth.”

You can only nod, yet you continue to ask him more.

“Why did you come to the city? And to the bookstore?”

“I’ve traveled alone for many years now.” Xavier explained, “It gets boring quickly so I am a pretty active reader. That was my only reason to go that first day, but..” he trailed off

“But what?” You asked him.

“I met you.”

“What do you mean?” You ask him, confused.

“When I walked into the store and you introduced yourself, I immediately caught your scent.” Xavier sighed. “And I went into a bloodthirsty frenzy, I was ready to risk everything right there for a taste.”

“Is that why you ignored me?” You said, voice barely above a whisper. Hearing his confession made you scared, but still wanting answers.

“Yes and I really am sorry about that, I just needed to leave before I lost all control. Even now, your scent is enticing, but I made a promise not to hurt you.”

His confession catches you off guard. Why would he promise not to hurt some stranger?

“Why?” You ask him.

Xavier chuckled, “Honestly, I’m curious about you. I wanted to be your friend. It’s been so long since I stayed in one place so long, and I actually enjoy reading so it’s all a win-win.”

You feel your cheeks warm. He wanted to stay..for me? You thought, unable to resist feeling flattered.

“Okay.” You said, contemplating your next question, while still trying to absorb everything else he told you. “How did you know where I live?”

“I’ve been here nearly every night for about three weeks.” Xavier answered matter of factly, you gaped at him. “At first it was just to make sure you went home safe. But now it’s become a sort of..habit.”

Seeing your scared expression, Xavier gives you an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s weird, but I just have this sense to..protect you. Just know my intentions were never meant to harm you, I promise.”

You only nod, taken aback. Protect me? Is he trying to be some kind of superhero? You think to yourself.

“Now that you know the truth,” Xavier began. “I want to give you the choice. I can stay here, if you want of course, and we can carry on like before, though of course the truth of my existence would have to be kept secret, and I do enjoy spending time with you at the store.”

You gulped,“Or..”

“Or..” Xavier sighs. “I can leave. Move on and we can just pretend that nothing happened. I would trust you with the secret, and since I would leave immediately I highly doubt anyone would believe you.” You sit quietly for a moment, weighing your options.

Your conscience is telling you to make him leave, not only is he a literal vampire, he’s been following you! He also just told you he wanted to kill you the first moment you met.

Yet, you can’t help but feel safe with him, after all he did just save your life. How bad could he really be?

Xavier stares at you as you contemplate, you meet his gaze and nod. “You can stay.”

Xavier is visibly taken aback by your response, he looks at you confused, and then breaks into a chuckle.

You scowl at him, “What’s so funny?”

Xavier shakes his head and looks at you, a small smile on his face.

“This is going to be interesting.”

Xavier began to visit frequently, taking up any recommendations you gave him. Anytime there was rain, which happened quite often in the rainy town, he was there. For some reason however, if the day was bright and sunny he didn’t show, but you brushed it off. The days blurred together with him. Xavier was reserved, but you enjoyed talking with him about different books and stories you had similar interests in.

You learned that he just recently moved to the city, wanting to look for a fresh start after finishing university. Xavier worked a well paying job from home, which made sense for how many books he could afford to buy weekly. While he was only 24, you felt like he spoke like an old soul. He told you he was an infamous night owl, always finding he read better in the dark. 

While you enjoyed his company, you also found him a little odd. He never ate or drank, despite spending hours in the store, no matter how many times you offered him a coffee or pastry. He also never shook your hand, and you noticed he made an effort to never brush against you accidentally, always keeping a wide distance between you both, even if there were only you two in the store.

“I think he totally has a crush on you, Y/N. Why else would he come almost every day?” Cassidy told you one afternoon Xavier didn’t show. You scoffed, “He’s new to town! He probably just wants some friends.” Cassidy laughed, “You’re so naive sometimes, and I know you like him too! Its so adorable watching you two talk. He needs to hurry up and make a move!”

You felt your face heat up. Was it that obvious? Did Xavier notice everytime you’d stare too long at him, just trying to take in his beauty. Who could blame you though, he was gorgeous.

“Maybe after some time Cass, but don’t embarrass me!” You whispered, making Cassidy laugh.

The next day, a strong thunderstorm shook up the city. 

The bookstore shook with the deep thunder that erupted outside, making the lights flicker. You groaned, today was so gloomy.

“With no reports of another victim of the mysterious attacks in over two weeks, police are working diligently to find the source of these crimes.” Cassidy read the paper to you as you dusted some bookshelves. “Geez Y/N…this is so scary, we have a real life serial killer on the loose!”

“Cassidy I’m already freaked out enough as is, and I saw that in the paper already!” You told her, Cassidy sighed “I’m just worried, what if something happened to you?” You shook your head,”I’m sure they’ll find them soon Cass.”

“Hello? Anyone here?” A familiar voice echoed from the front door, you and Cassidy turned to see Xavier, perfectly dry from the raging storm outside. “We’re over here!” You said, waving him over. As he approached, you noticed he looked different today, maybe a little sick even. He looked paler than usual and his usually bright blue eyes had looked darker.

“Hi Xavier.” Cassidy giggled behind you. “It’s raining a lot outside, what made you decide to make the trip?” You turned to see her eyeing you mischievously.

“Rain doesn’t bother me, plus I needed a new book.” He answered, “What’s on the list today Y/N?” Cassidy giggled behind you again, making you fight the urge to roll your eyes at her.

“Our shipment came in yesterday, I haven’t put everything out yet, let me go see if I can find you something.” You told him, walking to the storage room.

Lines of labelled boxes with various novels filled the storage room, you went to the box you hadn’t labelled and pulled out a book.

Dracula by Bram Stoker, and in a fancy red leather binding too! This would be perfect, you thought and it’s a classic.

As you walked back to the shelves where Cassidy and Xavier stood you began to hear their conversation.

“You live alone? Well you need to be careful. Have you been hearing those reports about those missing people? I keep telling Y/N it could be some kind of murderer!” Cassidy told him, Xavier just shrugged, “No, I don't pay much attention to the news.”

“Cass, stop trying to scare everyone.” You interrupted, “Xavier will be fine, I will be fine just give it a rest!” You told her sharply, to which she just sighed.

“Fine, I guess you’re right. Anyways, what do you have there?” She asked, pointing towards the red leather book in your hand.

“Xavier’s next story,” You replied with a smile, turning to face him. “It’s a new edition of one of the classics!” You said cheerfully putting the book in his waiting hands. Cassidy peeked over your shoulder to see his reaction, side eyeing you.

You saw Xavier read the title and he seemed to stiffen, and clenched the book in his hands.

“Dracula….interesting.” He said in a low voice, making you raise an eyebrow. You exchange a quick glance with Cassidy before clearing your throat, ”Yeah, rebound with red leather, I thought it looked nice and you did say you like classical fiction.”

Xavier looked up from the book and stared at you coldly again, like the first day he was here, but his words didn’t match his expression. “No.. it’s great, I just..” Suddenly, he started to stumble back. Instinctively you grabbed his wrist to help him regain his balance.

Touching his skin made you gasp, it was ice cold.

“Xavier are you alright?” You asked, “You’re freezing do you need a cup of-”

“Don’t touch me!” Xavier snapped, ripping his wrist out of your grip, making you gasp again. Cassidy stepped in front of you then, “Hey you don’t need to snap like that, she was just making sure you were okay.” Xavier narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly looking angry. But like a switch was flipped, his expression softened.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well. Here.” He handed you the book back. “I need to go home, I’ll come get this another day.” Xavier began to walk away but you quickly handed him the book again, “No here, this one’s on me today. Just get well soon, okay?”

Xavier barely nodded, and without a word exited the store into the pouring rain outside.

You let out an exasperated sigh, “What the hell was all that about you suppose?” You asked Cassidy, who shrugged in response.

“No idea, maybe classic horror makes him sick?”

*

As you walk to the bus home after work, you can’t shake the uneasy feeling you have in your gut. Why would Xavier lash out like that over a book? Did you offend him somehow? A million thoughts race in your head. As the bus makes it way down your street you try to watch the rain beat against the window to distract your mind.

Exhausted, you head up to your apartment, eager to try and sleep your worries off.

*

A loud crash of thunder wakes you suddenly, making you sit upright in bed, your heart beating fast in your chest. Drowsy, you walk to the kitchen for a glass of water when something strange catches your eye.

You walk to pick up a book off the coffee table that wasn’t there before, and your stomach drops.

Dracula. In the red leather binding.

Like you gave Xavier.

Before your mind can even think to respond, you feel two cold arms wrap around you tightly, and you feel a warm breath on your neck.

“Look who woke up.” An all too familiar voice whispered in your ear, “I was starting to worry I’d have to wake you myself.”

“Xavier?” You whispered, afraid to speak normally, one of the cold arms gripped your waist tighter. You try to turn your face to be met with the same dark blue eyes from earlier. What was he doing here?! 

You gasp, and before you can scream, his cold hand is over your mouth. You cry out behind it, but his grip tightens, and his breath fans over your neck again making you shiver. “Shhhh, don’t be scared. It’ll be over soon okay? Don’t worry.” He says in a sickly sweet voice. You cried out and thrashed against him, he let out a low growl and suddenly you were shoved against your living room wall.

Xavier, still pressing his hand against your mouth, pressed all his body weight against you, making you whimper. His blue eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness as he stared into yours. Slowly he leaned down and you felt his teeth graze ever so softly against your throat. Tears wet your cheeks as you struggled against him, your heart nearly bursting with fear.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Y/N. You just smell amazing. I’ll be quick, but this might pinch a little.” Xavier whispered into your ear, and you felt razor sharp teeth rip into your jugular. 

You couldn’t scream or move. You were paralyzed instantly, feeling like your energy was being torn away from you, Xavier’s hand dropped from your mouth to grip your jaw. He pulled you impossibly closer, you tried to scream out, but only small gasps managed to escape. 

Slowly, your vision blurred. He’s killing me, you thought, this is it.

As you begin to succumb to the darkness, you feel Xavier pull away from you, and you feel yourself slump to the floor.

Right before you finally close your eyes, you see Xavier’s bright blue ones staring into yours, his face and mouth covered in blood.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

______

Novel Haven was notoriously dull, quiet and peaceful. Perhaps that’s what made you think it was the best job you had. While you weren’t a huge reader, you enjoyed the atmosphere and kind clientele. The included coffee bar was fun to work at as well, offering a small arrangement of sweets and lattes.

You spent most of your time there, living alone in the city got lonely so it was nice to visit with customers daily.

After almost two years, you had pretty much knew every regular customer by first name, like Margret who frequently bought various crafting books and told you about the joys of crochet and DIY pottery, and occasionally her husband Greg would join her to retell you stories about his model planes.

You felt like you knew everyone, so when a newcomer came along needless to say you were intrigued.

It was early spring, the mornings were chillier still and the day was gloomy with rain, when he walked into the store. Immediately you made a mental note in your mind addressing him as Newcomer.

Newcomer was tall, tall enough to reach the top of the shelves in the fiction section, with light blonde hair. He was younger than your usual patrons. You didn’t get a good look at his face at first, but you decided to walk over after helping another customer to meet him.

You approached him quietly, his back facing you. “Excuse me?” you said “I’m Y/N, I work here at Novel Haven, I just wanted to introduce myself since I haven’t seen you here before. Are you finding everything okay?”

Newcomer stiffened slightly, you heard him set whatever book he was looking at down, and slowly turn to face you.

Shit, you thought, he’s handsome.

Newcomer had dazzling blue eyes, beautiful facial features , and a soft expression, but to your dismay quickly turned colder.

Without saying a word, he shoved past you and quickly walked out the door. The bell ringing in your ears.

Stunned, you stood in the fiction section. No one had ever been so rude to you, especially here. You were also angry at yourself for still thinking he was cute even after looking at you so coldly. Whatever you thought maybe he was just some jerk passing through town.

You walked back behind the register, trying to clear your mind of the rude and handsome newcomer.

*

The days passed normally after that, you pushed the thought of the newcomer to the back of your mind.

“Have you been listening to the news?” Cassidy, your coworker asked you one slow afternoon. She was one of the only other workers besides the old man who owned Novel Haven, she was bubbly and made sure you knew every piece of gossip she heard.

“No?” You responded, Cassidy’s eyes widened. “Theres been a couple of people missing for days, it started last week! Everyone’s saying there might be some serial killer around.”

“You shouldn’t spread rumors like that. It could scare people.” You told Cassidy, even though you found yourself nervous.

“I’m just saying!” Cassidy whisper yelled. “You live in that apartment all by yourself, all the people missing were alone! Just be vigilant!”

You chuckled, “I appreciate the concern, I will. Thanks.” Cassidy beamed at you “Anytime. I gotta get going soon. Thanks for closing for me!” With that she left the store.

You carried on, the store was completely empty and you started making a latte for yourself when you heard the bell on the front door ring as it opened.

“Hi welcome to Novel Haven, let me know if I can help you with anything.” You said, not turning around.

“Hello.” A deep voice you didn’t recognize replied, you turned around to see the rude newcomer from the other day. You almost dropped the mug in your hand, thinking he wouldn’t come back. It irritated you that he still looked handsome, and you did your best to push those thoughts aside.

“Oh, hello.” You replied, setting the mug down. “Is there anything I can help you with?” You said curtly, half expecting him to continue being a jerk.

The newcomer looked at you, emotionless. “I wanted to apologize for the other day, my name is Xavier. You’re Y/N right?”

Xavier… you thought, it fits him. Though you never would’ve guessed that was his name.

You stared at him for a moment, taken aback by his apology. “That’s..alright. Nice to meet you, Xavier.” You held out your hand for him to shake, he just stared at it. After realizing he wouldn’t shake it, you just put it down. Gosh this guy is strange, you thought. You tried to look busy by cleaning up the counter, Xavier still stood awkwardly, watching you.

“Do you have any recommendations?” He asked you, making you look up at him. His expression was still unreadable. He was here the other day and didn’t ask questions like that…maybe he’s just trying to make up for before?

“Um, it depends..What do you like?” You replied, and for the first time you saw a hint of a smile on Xavier’s face.

“Classical fiction.” He replied, you smiled at him kindly, “We have a lot of that here, if you go over to that shelf theres plenty of options.” You pointed towards a shelf across the room, Xavier nodded and walked over. You continued your cleaning duties and he came back to the register with a copy of Hamlet.

“Hamlet huh? I could never get into Shakespear like that.” You said, trying to make conversation, you heard Xavier chuckle.

His change in demeanor from the other day was refreshing yet made you wonder if it would switch again. Maybe he was having a bad day then, you weren’t going to let it bother you anymore. Plus he seemed kind enough. (And he was just so cute.)

“I guess I’m a bit of an old soul then.” He replied. You smiled, and handed him the book. “Enjoy then, come back anytime.”

Xavier takes the book and nods, “I’ll be back tomorrow.” And with that he left the store.